1999 June 3
VAN: Paul Shepherd; Jeff Skinner, Rob Hall (Niall Thompson 69),
Steve MacDonald, Richard Bodnark; Nico Berg, Martin Nash (Alfredo Valente
66), Paul Dailly, John Sulentic (Spencer Coppin 90); Eduardo Sebrango (Jason
Jordan 61), Dominic Mobilio.
SEA: Preston Burpo; Bernie James, Craig Waibel, Jason Annicchero,
Randy Mann (George Singh 29); Neil Megson (Troya Cowell 71), Peter Hattrup,
Kieran Barton; Viet Nguyen (Erik Storkson 45), Ian Russell, Mark Baena.
Goalkeeper Preston Burpo was clearly man of the match, as he had to endure 31 shots by Vancouver while Seattle's attack was nearly nonexistant.
First Half
Vancouver came out strong, looking for revenge after having dropped the first two matches of the season to Seattle. In the 3rd minute a Jeff Skinner cross was chested back by Eduardo Sebrango for Dailly, who volleyed over the bar. Dominic Mobilio got a chance from the left on a counterattack, but curled the ball away from the near post. Sebrango, running up the middle shoulder to shoulder with defender Jason Annicchero, fired from the arc and just missed the top left corner. Martin Nash's hard cross from the left made trouble at the near post, but goalkeeper Preston Burpo chested it out for a corner kick.
Baena finally took a shot for Seattle at 16', a quick try from 25 yards that was way wide.
Dailly, with space, beat a man and blasted a shot up the middle that was addressed to the top left corner, but Burpo made his first save his best as he leaped sideways to push the shot wide to a teammate for the clearance. Nash's cross from the left went past the goal to Mobilio just outside the goal area. Instead of heading on goal, Mobilio nodded the ball back nicely for another try by Dailly, who blasted his 12-yard volley over the bar again.
Seattle defender Randy Mann must have been suffering, as George Singh replaced him at 29'.
Vancouver defender Rob Hall, brought up from the reserves to fill in for the injured Tom Hardy, drove a long ball to the spot, where Mobilio rose and headed just wide of the far post.
Seattle's best chance yet came from Peter Hattrup's corner kick when Annicchero headed just wide of the far post.
Vancouver closed the half applying more pressure on the Seattle goal. Sulentic crossed from the left to give Sebrango a 10-yard header, but the shot was weak and easily caught by Burpo. From a short Nico Berg cross, Mobilio volleyed just wide of the far post. After a Seattle defender slipped and fell, Vancouver had an advantage on the attack but Sebrango's low cross through the penalty area rolled harmlessly in front of Mobilio.
Vancouver had dominated the half, outshooting Seattle 10-3, but the scoreboard still showed a pair of goose eggs.
Halftime: Vancouver 0 – 0 Seattle
Seattle tall forward Erik Storkson started the second half in place
of Viet Nguyen, who had been ineffective.
Seattle finally threatened from the run of the play early in the second half. Inside Seattle's penalty area, Hattrup tackled the ball cleanly away from John Sulentic, advanced up the left side, and passed ahead to the front line. Storkson received the ball and tried to put Baena through with a pass. A defender deflected the pass but couldn't stop it, and Baena and Shepherd converged on the 50-50 ball 35 yards from goal. Shepherd got there just before Baena and tried to clear the ball, but Baena blocked the clearance and chased it down at the right edge of the penalty area. Baena tried to squeeze his shot between the retreating defenders and the near post but was just wide of goal.
51' Baena (Russell). Baena made better of his next chance. From the center circle, Hattrup sent the ball to an open Russell near the right touch line. Russell advanced up the side and sent a square cross low along the 18-yard line. Baena, on a far-post run, broke away from his marker and got to the ball just before the onrushing Shepherd, sending the shot under the collapsing Shepherd. The ball was slowed by Shepherd, but still had enough momentum to roll into the goal.
Seattle seemed to go into a defensive stance for the final 40 minutes, as Vancouver would outshoot them 15-1 in the rest of the half. Sebrango and Sulentic traded passes up the right side, leading to a drop for a Sebrango shot from 12 yards, sent over the bar. An obstruction call just behind the penalty spot gave Vancouver an interesting indirect free kick from 15 yards. Since A-League rules call for a 15-yard wall near goal, the entire Seattle side lined up between the pipes. On the first touch, half of them rushed out but the low shot was blocked by a defender standing on the line near the left post. A second and third shot ensued, both also blocked, before Burpo finally punched the ball clear of the area.
Inside 20 minutes now, Vancouver kept firing away at goal. Substitute Jason Jordan played target and dropped for substitute Niall Thompson, whose low shot was saved by a diving Burpo. A Sulentic corner kick went to the far post and was headed on goal, but kicked clear by Singh who was manning the post.
At 82' Seattle took their first shot in over 30 minutes when Hattrup beat two defenders on the left side to shoot from 20 yards, just missing the top far corner.
Inside 7 minutes now, Vancouver kept earning shots. Sulentic's long cross was headed on goal by Mobilio and saved by Burpo. Substitute Alfredo Valente's long cross/shot from the left touch line was caught at the bar by the backpedaling Burpo.
86' Thompson (Dailly). With time running out, Vancouver scored what seemed like an inevitable goal. A close shot was rejected and rolled out near the arc. Dailly slid in feet first to fire the ball low up the middle. Burpo and a collapsing defender were positioned to stop Dailly's shot, but Thompson stepped in front of them to redirect the shot past them and into the net. Vancouver had scored on their last shot in regulation time. After the goal, a group of rowdy fans in the beer section behind the goal lit 3 or 4 flares, to great effect in the settling twilight.
Regulation Time: Vancouver 1 – 1 Seattle
Both sides had chances in the overtime period. Vancouver's best chance
came with their first shot. Spencer Coppin, who entered at the start of
the period, received a corner kick past the far post and sent it back across
for Thompson, whose header hit the cross bar hard and went straight up,
coming back down just behind the bar. Thompson tried another header from
a Valente cross but sent it just wide. From Jordan's pass, Valente took
a shot from the left with just Burpo to beat but hit the side netting.
Then it was Seattle's turn as Baena caught up to a through ball for a shot from 15 yards out on the left. He may have been trying to chip over the well-positioned Shepherd, but the shot went right to Shepherd. Russell had a good chance to end the affair when Craig Waibel crossed to him from a broken throw-in play, giving the unmarked Russell a volley shot from the 18-yard line. Russell tried to blast the ball through the crowded penalty area but a defender rejected the shot at the halfway point.
Mobilio had one last chance from 18 but couldn't get much on the shot and Burpo easily saved.
Final: Vancouver 1 – 1 Seattle
CrapShootout
Seattle won the CrapShootout in the 7th round. The ending confused many fans, as Vancouver's last shooter, Steve MacDonald, pushed the ball around Burpo and shot into the empty net, but he took more than five seconds to shoot and the shot didn't count. Having a strong dislike for the CrapShootout, I got a kick out of the bewildered looks on fans' faces as they asked, "What happened?"
Referee: Mauricio Navarro
Attendance: 2,760